Turning to the North

We haven't had any trouble staying busy here in Wyoming. If I remember correctly, we started our week off with some hiking.


Danny and Cameron took a hike at Leigh Lake that was 2 miles each way. In the middle of their hike they swam out to an island, hiked around it for a while and swam back. I want to remind you that these lakes and rivers are glacier run-off, so the temp is right around 50 degrees! It's a little chilly even if your hot and sweaty!


While Danny and Cam were off on their hike, Cassie, Colin, and myself did a hike too. We did a 2.3 mile hike at Jenny lake that ended at Cascade Falls with a boat ride back to where we started. We also saw a young moose and it's mother in a valley. This hike wasn't straight and flat...we went up and down hills, over rocks and around the bends of this beautiful lake!


We finally saw bison! This was so exciting. I know they aren't easy to see, but all those little brown spots on the ridge are BISON! This wasn't our only bison sighting...I'll share some close encounters later!

The next day, we made it to Yellowstone. In the back ground, you can see Lewis River. This river is flowing south and we were headed north into the park. Before long, the river was far below in a canyon. Then we reached the falls and the lake that fed the river.


The first day, we started up the south-west side of the park loop and crossed the Continental Divide 3 times.


Our first animal encounter in Yellowstone was when we saw this elk. We stopped, because it looked like it was going to cross the street. Sure enough, she did and 2 others crossed with her right in front of us! AMAZING!


Yes, that is Old Faithful spewing hot steaming water out of the earth. What an amazing site these erupting geysers were!


This picture of the Grand Prismatic Spring does this feature of the the park no justice. The vivid yellow, orange, green, and many shades of blue were beautiful. The yellows and oranges were heat loving micro organisms that thrived in these waters. The blues were a sign of the waters depth. Although you can't see it in this photo, there were spots that were actually boiling. The unappealing part of visiting the hot springs, steam vents and geysers was the smell of sulfur or as my kids would say stinky hard-boiled eggs.


Since we got a late start to the day, we only got to see about a quarter of the park. Another day was a must! On our way to the west entrance (we took this route because it was shorter and took us through Montana, Idaho, and the Teton Pass), we saw this little guy, his mama and another elk friend cross the Firehole River and then the street right in front of our van.